Elevator



June 10,, 1924.

A. H. STEBBINS ELEVATOR Fil ed June 27, 1922 3 mm a /I\l VENTOF? fM-I.1996M ATTOQNEY Patented June 10, 19234.

UNITED STATES pennant: it. cassettes, or nos ANGELES, caruronnra.

ELEVATOR.

7 Application filed June 27, 1922. Serial No. 571,286.

To ((1. 10/2027). i/; may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. grime-ins, a citiaen ot the United States,residing at Les Angeles. in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented an,

l1nprovement in Elevators. of which the followingdescription. inconnection with the accouumnying drawings, is a specification, likecharacters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of elevators.and more particularly to means for preventing dust from escaping fromthe elevator casing.

In elevators of the type in which a casing is provided having bucketsmoving upwardly in one portion of the casing and downwardly in anotherportion, the movement of the buckets produces air currents that may blowdust outwardly from the casing around the base thereof, and the part ofthe elevator from which dust is most likely to escape is the feedhopper.

An'in'iportant. feature of the present invention, therefore, resides inmeans for directing the air currents produced in an elevator by thetraveling buckets so that the air currents will'not'cause dust to escapefrom the elevator casing.

Another feature of the invention resides in gates for controlling thepassage of air through the feed hopper and discharge hopper of theelevator. V 1

Other features of the invention and novel combination of parts inaddition to the above will be hereafter described in connection with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through an elevator casing havingthe present inven tion applied thereto: and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The present invention is applicable to any type of elevator having aclosed casing and buckets therein that move upwardly in one portion ofthe casing and downwardly in another portion, and in the present case anupright casing 10 is shown having a base 11 and head 12. The casing 10may be rectangular in cross section, as shown in Fig. 2, and may beformed of spaced side walls 13 connected by end walls 14. 7

Within the casing 10 are mounted one or more endless chains 15 that passaround sprocket "wheels 1.6 and 17 mounted upon shafts 18 and 19 in thelower and upper portion respectively of the casing 10. To the chain orchains 15 are secured buckets 20 that elevate n'mterials from the lowerto the upper part of the casing. Movement may be imparted to the chainsand buckets by providing a gear 21 upon the shaft 19 that meshes with agear 21 driven by a belt wheel 22. lviaterials may be supplied to theelevator through a feed hopper 23, and may be discharged therefromthrough the discharge hopper 2 1.

When the buckets 20 are operated they will travel as indicated by thearrows in Fig. 1, and will scoop up materials at the bottom 11 of theelevator and discharge the materials into the hopper 24- near the upperend of the elevator and the movement of the buckets will produce aircurrents that travel downward; with the buckets 'in 'one portion of theelevator and upward with the buckets in another portion of the elevator.These air currents, however. usually intermingle more orless and producelocal disturbing currents rather than well defined currents that travelin thedirection of the buckets.

It is found that the discharge of dust from the lower portion of thecasing 10 may be prevented in accordance with the present invention, byestablishing a well defined current air that travels upwardly in theportion of the casing in which the buckets 20 travel upwardly. Thisupward on rent of air serves to relieve the air pressure in the lowerportion of the casing 10, and the same is secured by providing apartition 25 within the casing to extend longitudinally between the tworuns of the buckets 20 so that the air which travels downward with thebuckets in one portion of the casing is prevented from interfering withthe air that travels upward. with. the buckets in another portion of thecasing. The partition 25 preferably extends from near the sprocket wheel16 at the lower portion of the casing upwardly to a position near theupper sprocket wheels 17, and extends from one side of the casing to theother as will be apparent from Fig. 2.

The discharge of dust from the lower portion of elevators is due largelyto the air pressure within the lower portion of the casing, and this airpressure is produced by the empty buckets carrying air downwardly intothe lower portion of the casing where the air is forced out of thebuckets as it is replaced by the material that enters the buckets, withthe result that an abnormal air pressure is produced in the lowerportion of the casing. By constructing the casing 10 so that a welldefined current of air travels upward with the rising buckets the excessair pressure in the lower portion of the casing is readily relieved.

The escapage of dust from the lower portion of the elevator casing maybe further prevented by providing the feed hopper 23 with a gate 26which serves to allow materials to enter the elevator through thehopper, but prevents air from passing outwardly through this hopper. Thegate 26 may be swingingly mounted within the hopper 23 so that it willswing in one direct-ion from the position shown in Fig. 1 to admitmaterials but will not swing in the opposite direction. The upward flowof air within the casing 10 may be promoted by preventing the downwardlymoving buckets 20 from drawing air into the casing through the dischargehopper 24, and to this end, a gate 27 is mounted within the hopper 24:so that it will swing outwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1, butwill not swing inward- 1 What is claimed is:

1. In combination with an elevator casing having buckets travelingdownward in one portion of the casing and upward in another portion, afeed hopper at the lower portion of the casing and having a swinginggate for preventing air from leaving the casing through the feed hopper,and a discharge hopper at the upper portion of the casing and having aswinging gate for preventing air from entering the casing through thedischarge hopper. 1

2. In combination with an elevator casing having buckets travelingdownward. in one portion of the casing and upward in another portion, afeed hopper at the lowerportion of the casing and having a. swin inggate per portion of the casing and having a gate for preventing air fromentering the casing through the discharge hopper, and a partitionextending longitudinally within the casing and arran 'ed to prevent airfrom flowing transverse y of the casing from one set of buckets toanother.

4;. In combination with an elevator casing having buckets travelingdownward in one portion of the casing and upward in another portion, apartition within the casing be tween the runs of the buckets to preventair from flowing transversely of the casing from the buckets moving inone direction to the buckets moving in the opposite direction, and afeed hopper at the lower portion of the casing and having a gate forpreventing air from leaving the casing through the feed hopper.

5. In combination with an elevator casing having buckets travelingdownward in one portion of the casing and upward in another portion, apartition within the casing between the runs of the buckets to preventair from flowing transversely of the casing from the buckets moving inone direction to the buckets moving in the opposite direction, and adischarge hopper at the upper portion of the casing and aving a gate forpreventing air from entering the casing through the discharge hopper.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFFIZT STEBBINS.

